Aqueous dispersions of polymeric particles have been prepared for decades using various emulsion and suspension polymerization techniques. Such dispersions can be used in various industrial applications because they can be dried to form films or coatings having various desired properties. For example, dispersions of core-shell particles in which the cores contain cellulose esters homogeneously mixed with acrylate polymers are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,247 (Hoppe et al.).
It also known to prepare dispersions of thermoplastic particles using various polymerizable monomer starting materials. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,617 (Majima et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,106,996 (Van Damme et al.) and EP 0 514 145A1 (Matthews et al.) describes thermoplastic particles for use in various thermal imaging materials such as thermal materials used to make printing plates.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,617 (Majima et al.) describes printing materials containing self-combustible nitrocellulosic materials that are encapsulated within a polystyrene resin. When contracted with IR-radiation, portions of the materials combust to form an image.
There is a need for thermally combustible particles for which such critical properties as particle diameter, particle size distribution, solvent dispersibility, surface functions, glass transition temperature, and coalescence properties can be finely designed to fit the needs of specific uses.